Students Misuse of Drugs

“Parents’ awareness of their teens using ‘study drugs’ does not match self-reported use by teens,” according to a US nationally representative household survey of parents of 13- to 17-year-olds.

Only 1% of parents of teens who have never been prescribed a stimulant medication for ADHD believe that their teens have used such drugs to stay awake to study for an exam or to do homework, and 4% reported that they did not know.

In contrast, recent national data from the Monitoring the Future survey show that 5% of 8th graders, 9% of 10th graders, and 12% of 12th graders report ever using stimulants such as Ritalin® or Adderall® without a prescription (see figures below).

The study also found that only slightly more than one-fourth (27%) of parents of teens reported that they had talked to their teens about using non-prescribed stimulant medications (data not shown).

While Only 1% of Parents Believe Their Teens Have Used a Stimulant to Stay Awake to Study for An Exam or To Do Homework . . . (see below)

. . . Between 5% and 12% of 8th, 10th, and 12th Grade Teens Say They Have Ever Used Stimulants Without a Prescription (see below)

June 10, 2013. Vol. 22, Issue 23. CESAR FAX may be copied without permission at www.cesar.umd.edu